Hundreds in Warsaw protest government’s plan to suspend asylum right
October 28, Pozirk. About 250 left-wing activists participated in yesterday’s rally in Warsaw protesting the potential suspension of asylum rights in Poland amid a migration crisis at the Belarusian-Polish border.
Designed to deter illegal migration by third-country nationals via Belarus, the move may affect Belarusian asylum seekers fleeing Alaksandar Łukašenka’s regime.
Polish authorities are helping Łukašenka and his officials to destabilize Poland and the European Union by “leaving hundreds of defenseless people to face death at Poland’s door,” one rally participant said.
“The right to asylum also covers people from Belarus and Ukraine,” one of the activists said. “Despite assurances by some politicians that the temporary suspension will not affect people resisting the regime in Belarus or fleeing the war in Ukraine, we don’t know if this is true.”
Rally participants criticized Polish authorities for pushbacks at the border and keeping illegal migrants in closed centers, describing such practices as segregation.
At least 87 migrants have died at the border since July 2021, becoming victims of manipulations, instrumentalization and disinformation to expand Russia’s sphere of influence, another speaker said.
In mid-October, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk announced a new migration strategy, following the government’s meeting that discussed the crisis at the Polish-Belarusian border that Warsaw considers a hybrid attack organized by Minsk and Moscow.
While the details have not been made public, the strategy calls for “territorial” suspension of asylum procedures in Poland.
Tusk faces severe criticism from advocacy groups and politicians, including Polish President Andrzej Duda, yet has the support of the European Union Council.
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